Middle and High School: Pioneer Valley School for the Performing Arts
College: Amherst College ‘23 Economics and Mathematics, pondering a career in finance/investing.
In high school, Ben was active in theater and improv, played piano for the jazz and pop/r&b ensembles. At Amherst College, he’s helping build sets for the theater department, is active in the Outing Club and enjoys nerding out in the Math Club. In his down time, Ben plays music with friends and family and competes in board games.
WHAT DOES THE COMMON SCHOOL MEAN TO YOU?
In his own words: “Eight years after graduating, I still compare my most rewarding intellectual and academic moments to my time at the Common School. The depth of the Common School’s in-depth studies has proven to be nearly unparalleled, even by college standards, and the teachers and students at the school helped me to develop a love of learning that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. My college curriculum has been much more academically rigorous than high school and I think the Common School prepared me very well for both types of learning. I was always blown away with how seriously the Common School teachers took their students as people and as learners, even from an extremely young age. I always felt like my ideas mattered, and I learned how to express my thoughts and how to listen to the ideas of others. I learned what it felt like to participate in a focused academic community. Just as importantly, the school helped me to build deep social values, and I left with an understanding of the importance of kindness and fairness that I still cherish”.